WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 02/2019

Drive technology

Drive technology compliant with food and pharmaceutical packaging industry standards Just within 5 years, the company Swiss Can Machinery has established itself as one of the leading manufacturer of fully automated packaging systems for powders and dry products. Complying with the stringent hygiene requirements of the food industry, the Swiss based company uses products with washdown-optimised drive technology from Nord Drivesystems. Founded in 2013, the company Swiss Can Machinery has since then been providing excellent products for packaging of coffee, powdered milk, snacks, toffees and pharmaceuticals. In a span of just 5 years, the company has made its mark in pouch filling, cans and glass jars with powders and dry products. Swiss can machinery has been designing its machines keeping in mind the specific requirements of food and pharmaceutical industry, which has made its products, right from individual machines up to entire filling plants world class. Its tailor-made packaging solutions are now gaining attention even from international buyers. Packaging sensitive products with innovative technology One of the mainstays is the baby food industry. The company’s international customer base includes many milk powder producers. “Powdered milk is a difficult product to fill” explains Michael Grabher, Managing Director of Swiss Can Machinery. “It can have very difficult filling characteristics, depending on the recipe, fat content, drying method, granulation and fineness. Even the characteristics of the same product vary from batch to batch and production conditions”. The company makes sure that its machines automatically adapt to the continuously changing filling conditions and package the powdered milk cleanly, precisely and efficiently. In this segment, the latest development is the SCM Line V-matic 127-3 2018, a fully automatic can filling and sealing plant for powdered milk and baby food. The plant automatically performs all of the work stages from the empty to the full can. A special protective gas technology ensures that a residual oxygen value of less than 0.5 % is achieved in the can. This ensures a maximum shelf life for the packaged product. A swiss – german partnership A few yers ago, Michael Grabher and Marc, both brothers who manage the company were in the market looking for a new supplier of motor/gear unit combinations which meet their stringent hygiene requirements. Meeting with a company as experienced and reliable as Nord Drivesystems in this regard was the right decision by the Swiss brothers. Looking at Nord’s product portfolio and engineering expertise, this young company began its co-operation with Nord in 2016. Nord Drivesystems, is one of the global leaders in the industry and supplies completely matched drive systems consisting of gear units, motors and frequency inverters. The optimum solution is assembled individually on the basis of a comprehensive modular product range. This results in a MOTION AND DRIVES 02 Smooth motors with washdown-optimised cast aluminium housing 03 Everything from a single source: NORD DRIVESYSTEMS supplies optimally matched drive systems consisting of the motor, the gear unit, motor and the drive electronics 24 WORLDOFINDUSTRIES 2/2019

01 The laser marking station of QR codes and other specific product information, powered by Nord smooth motors solution which is fully tailored to the particular needs of the customer. For industries and applications with high standards of hygiene, the German drive specialist also supplies robust and durable drive technology in a washdown design. “With its modular system and extensive range of products, Nord convinced us from the very start. Essential advantages are the wide range, scalability and flexibility of the products” explains Marc Grabher. “With Nord we had the possibility of combining motors, gear units and electronics so that we could achieve a uniform, hygienic solution”. Swiss Can Machinery, deploys Nord drive units in two areas: one for transporting cans and other for feeding and mixing the products at the filling station. Smooth surfaces for easy cleaning For Swiss Can Machinery, hygiene of its plant is absolutely essential design parameter. Because of this, the conveyor belts are equipped with Nord IE4 geared motors with smooth surfaces, including motor-mounted Nord Base SK 180E frequency inverters to reliably transport the cans. Nord’s smooth motors (0.75 kW) are specially designed for easy cleaning. They consist of wash-down optimised aluminium housing and wherever possible, they have flowing transitions between surfaces. Thus, cleaning liquids and foam can be washed off easily. This protects the motors and shortens the cleaning times. They are also fan-less, so they do not contribute to the spreading of germs. Thanks to protection class IP66 they are optimally protected against the entry of dirt (dust-proof) as well as for strong water jets from all directions. Use of energy-saving 3-phase motors with efficiency class IE4 also enables high efficiency with low operating costs. “The conveyor belt is used in the high hygiene room. This is why the washdown design of the drives is so important”, explains Marcel Tobler, Automation Manager at Swiss Can Machinery. “Another advantage is communication via Profinet. Here, the motors are connected in series. This also reduces the amount of cables. Due to the modular construction of the conveyor belts we can use the same motor everywhere, which makes purchasing much easier.” The required continuous speed control of the conveyor belts is provided by the Nordac Base. The decentralised frequency inverter offers reliable technology with a robust design. Installation directly on the motor increases flexibility, simplifies maintenance and repair processes for end-users. Nord’s smooth motors are also used in the screw conveyor which feeds powdered milk into the mixer. A robust worm geared motor (0.25 kW) with cover drives the agitator. The compact drive units provide a high power density, excellent reliability and ensure trouble-free operation. World-wide support and assistance Swiss Can Machinery customers mainly come from Europe and Asia, but the company has also supplied to clients in New Zealand. Expressing satisfaction with Nord’s products, Marc Grabher says, “The modular range optimally meets our stringent requirements for hygiene and performance and allows us the flexibility which we need for our machines. We were also impressed by the flexible, support and on-site customer assistance throughout the world. Wherever we need spare parts, we can depend on rapid support from Nord.” This is possible mainly due to its closely meshed sales and service network of the drive experts with subsidiaries in 36 countries as well as sales partners in 61 countries. Photographs: Lead Photo Swiss Can Machinery AG, Nord Drivesystems Group 04 Michael Grabher, Managing Director and Proprietor of Swiss Can Machinery www.nord.com WORLDOFINDUSTRIES 2/2019 25